The New York City Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is considering a revamp of the current evaluation system for contractors. How will everyone be satisfied?
Dissatisfaction with the Current System
Currently, contractors with $250,000 or more in contracts from the MTA are assessed by evaluators every six months, using five criteria of the All Agency-Contractor Evaluation (ACE) system:
- Quality
- Management
- Scheduling
- Safety
- Minority, women, and disadvantaged business compliance
Ratings on each category are: satisfactory, marginal or unsatisfactory. Contractors are given the notice to address deficiencies and an overall performance rating.
Gearing Up For Change
According to Construction Dive, the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) at the MTA believes that with its construction and development functions now centralized, the time is ripe for a change to the evaluation system. In the new approach, contractors would be evaluated against performance standards by project managers, with subpar performance considered before the awarding of additional contracts. As described in Construction Dive:
Inspector General Carolyn Pokorny’s report found that less than 1% of MTA contractors have been rated as providing unsatisfactory performance even though the OIG has “expressed skepticism” that MTA contractors have executed on their contracts that well.
In this latest report, the OIG said that MTA officials agree that the ACE needs revision and that the agency will incorporate the new metrics it has already developed to rate contractor performance into the new system.
While a new system of evaluation might be warranted, said attorney Erik Ortmann with Kaufman Dolowich Voluck in New York, there would be concerns if the MTA made it “an institutional goal” to rate more contractors as unsatisfactory.
Gain Control
Though the industry is full of unknowns, contractors can gain more control of some aspects of it than ever before. As you compete for more work, imagine having the ability to control your company’s bidding and bonding online, in real-time?
You don’t have to imagine having that control—with a Colonial Surety Partnership Account® that’s exactly what you will have—and more:
- Control your own bidding and bonding, online and in real-time.
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- Order performance and payment bids easily from your customized digital dashboard.
- Track bids and work on hand, in real-time with free management reports.
- Speak directly with Colonial’s lead underwriter as new opportunities emerge.
- Leverage data on a private Owner’s Dashboard to view surety lines, adjust work on hand, analyze bids—and grow.
Get Started—It’s Easy and Rewarding
Colonial Surety gets it—pausing business, as usual, to try a different approach can be exhausting and frustrating. That’s why our new pre-qualification process is streamlined and efficient, rewarding all companies that apply with their free business credit scores.
Contractors from all across the country are invited: start your company’s application to pre-qualify for a surety line of credit and receive free business credit scores after entering just a few bare essentials about your company. Watch the demo video and prequalify now!
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